William webstek



(No Model.) 2' Sheets-Sheet 1.

' W. WBBsTBRfJr. PROGBSS 0F BLBGTRoLYZING SBWAGB AND SBA WATER, y 16.389,781.; i; *i-nrtemtefv Sept. 18,1888.

No. 961; in Tnsmnnimfdatod February 12,

, run off and is replaced by fresh sewage, which ilication for intent in Great Britain dated acted upon for a short time.

Uniden ifrn'rns trice.

WILLlAM YVEBSTER, JR., 0F LEE PARK, LEE, COUNTY OF KENT, ENGLAND.

PRCESS OF ELECTRLYElNG SEWAGE ANU SEA-VVATER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 369,781., dated September 18, 1888.

Application ilcd December France December 9, 1 Victorin February 1` 1557. Scritti No. 255,796.

(No model.) Patented in England November 1T. 13S?, No. 15,700; in i, No. $7,499; in Capo o Good lilope Junimry 2d, 1588, No. 43C; in Narni February 2, 185e; in Q, v.\'o.5,(`11."1; in New South Wales February- 10, 1583, No. 495; in South Australia Februar-)'10, 12585,

No.9f11; in 'i'asmnnin February l2, 155.2, No. 510.y ll), :ind in india April 13j-'12. NSR, No.16 .721

To aZZ lwhom it may colt/:ern:

Be it known that I, WiLLL-m Wnns'rnn, Jun.,a citizen of England, residing;- at Lee Fark, Lee, in the county of Kent, England, haveinvented new and useful Improvements inthe Eleetrolyt-ic Treatment of Sewege and Sea- Water for the decomposition thereof and the production of certain products theiefro'in,(for which I have' obtained patents in France, dated December 9, 1887, No. 187,499, in Cape of Good Hope, dated January 28, 1888, No. L136; in Natal, dated February 1888; in Victoria, dated February 8, 1858, No. 5,615, in New South Wales, dated liebr-nary 10, 1888, No. 495, in South Australia, dat-ed February 10, 1888,

1888, No. :S/10; iuflndia, dated April i3/28, 1883, No. 1li/522; und hfffe'inade ap- November 17, 1,887, No.'15,7o0,) of which the following is n spccilictition. n

My inventionhas i'or'its object the decomposition of sewage or sea-water, more partienlarly with a view to obtain certain produc therefrom. For this purpose lconstrnct a rcservoir or tank, ora series oi the same, which l divide into compartments which may be either otequal or unequal size by means ol' porous -tiles, each compartment hai-'ing` an independentoutlet through the walls of the reservoir or otherwise. ,ll'it be desired to obtninfammonia. from sewage, l pince iron negntive cleotrodesin the narrowercon'ipartmems and positive carbon electrodes in the wider ones. loth ,setsof compartments are lilled with sewage and the electrodos are connected with the corresponding polcs of a d ymimo-cleotric machine or battery, and the sewage is cit-.ctrolytically The sewage in the positive compartnienls is then allowed to is then acted upon in the same manner, while the charge iu the negative compartmeius is retained, and so on, until by the continued electrolytic -action in the negative compartments suilicient ammonia has been produced,where upon-the charges of'these compartments areV vnegative compartments. arc-renewed short intervals after having been subjected to the eleetrolytic treatment', as above described. .lifter a certain time the contents ol' the positive compartments will be lonnd to be charged with various compounds ofchlorine ol'a highlyoxidizing natu-re, and consequently well suited for disinlccting purposes. Sea-walernmy also be treated in the same wuy, above described, for produtiin;` a highly oxidizing'or disinfect ing liquor therefrom.

lhe accompany ing drawings show various arrangements l'or carrying onl the above-described cleclrolytic process.-

Figure 1 shows a part plnn of one arrangement. Fig. 2 shows a section on lineX X, Fig. 1. Fig'. t shows a plan view ol' a modification. Fig. 5 shows :i crossscction on the line Z Z, Fig. 1. Fig. shows a plan View ol' another modilcation. Fig. 7 shows n cross-section' on the line W W, Fig. (l. Fig. 8 shows a plan View of another modilication; und Fig. Qshows a section ony the line V V, S, ol' apparatus for carrying out my invention.

A is n reservoir or tank dvided'by porous tile partitions a a a-into long` and comparatively narrow compartments I l; b and c c c, having openings at cit-eh end through which sewage can be admitted and dischargedmhich Fig. 3 shows a section on line Y Y. 7

openings are provided with suitable closing#` valves d LZ d, of which only those at the discharge end are shown. In the compartments b b b are placed positive electrodes e c e, having very extended surfaces, and which are made of carbon in any suitable menner,while c eeekrei in the compartments c c c are placed negative electrodes f f f, formed of iron plates, the electrodes c c c being connected by conductors g to the positive pole ot' an electrical generator', and the electrodes fff by conductors g to `the negative pole thereof. The supplyopenings of all the compartrnieuis may conununicate with a common sup ply-channel5 but at the discharge end the posiro tive compartments?) b communicate, through their valves d', with a channel, l1, leading to asetilingtanlr, B, while the negative coinpartments c c have tubular conduits ii leading from their discharge-openings across the chanig nel li into a channel, fr, which leads into the settling-tank (l. Thus all the positive aud negative compartments having been filled with sewage, their contents are subjected for a certain length of time to the action ot'an electric 2o current passing through t-he electrodes cj', after which the contents of the positive cornpartmcnts b are discharged into the tank B, While the contents of the negative compartments are retained. The compartments o are then again `charged with fresh sewage, which is again discharged after a short time, aud so on until the contents of the negative compartments c are Al'ound to be sui'iieiently charged with ammonia, generated at the negative electrede, when the Y are in their turn discharged into the tank C, to be further dealt with.

The porous partitions a a may be couven ientl y constructed of' porous earthensvare slabs support-cd between grooved nprights, as shown. Figs. i and 5 shoev another arrangement, in which the porous partitions a c are :nado o1 a continuous zigzag shape, so as to form spaces b Z), closed at the end t Zi', and all communicati ng with thcspaee I1" at the other cnd,\vhich no is incloscd by the` partition a, and communicales by an inlet, h, with a supply-channel, and by an outlet, i', with a settling-tenir, B. The zigzag partition also forms other spaces, e c, alternating with b Z, which are closed at a5 the ends c and communicate at the open ends with the space c, the space being` in communi' cation with an inlet, j, from a supplychannel, and an outlet, lr, to a settling-tank, C. In the spaces b b are placed the positive electrodes 5o c c, and in the spaces c c he negative electrodesff, these being connected to a generator of electricity by conductors 5t g', whereby the above-described elecirolytic action is set up, the two compartments being charged with the liquid to be treated, andthe contents of either the positive or the negative one being retained i'or a longer time, while the other is changed at short intervals, accordingr to the nature of the product desired to be obtained.

6 and 7 show a, inodiiieation oi the last described arrangement, in which the porous partitions c a are all carried up to the lefthand side ci the tank, but stop short some distance from the right-hand side, the space t between every alternate pair of partitions being iucloscd at that end by a wall, L, as shown, thus forming these spaces into separate positive compartments or cells containing the positive electrodes e, While the other alternate spaces c constitute the negative compartments containing the negative electrodes f These latter compartmeu ts all have a common supply and discharge, j 7.1, as before, while each of the compartments Z b in s a separate supply and discharge, 71, and i;

Figs. S and J show a construction of electrolytic apparatus suitable for dealing with com parativelysmall quantities of liquid according to niyinvention. porous pots, a ai, placed in it, in whichare situated either the positive or negative electrodes b b,\vhile the negative or positive electrodes c c are situated in the tank A. itself. The latter is charged and discharged at shorter intervals through openings h and i, While the porous pots are charged through lateral spouts j, and are discharged through either separate siphons or a compound siphon.

lf sewage is to be treated for obtaining ammonia, the negative electrodes are placed in the porous pots/gallese being of comparatively small capacity as compared with the capacity of the tank, the contents of the latter being renewed at short intervals,` while that of the former is retained for a longer time in order to accumulate the required amount of ammonia lit, on the other hand, sea-water is to be treated for the production of chlorine, the

positive electrodes are placed in the porous pots, so that by the elcctrolytic action chlorine is there evolved and accumulated.`

lnfall the above-described arrangements the compartments in which the accumulation of either ammonia or chlorine takes place should he closed by hermetically-itting covers if the contents are liable to become Warm, in which fase some of the evolved gases would be given oil', Vand pipes lead from these compartments into vessels containing liquid capable of absorbing these gases, the pipes being allowed to dip only slightly into this liquid, in order that a pressure may not be created in the closed compartments, which would force the liquid therein through the porous partitions or pots.

Having thus described the nature of my invention and the best means I know for carryiufr, the same into practical eHect, I claiml, The method herein ,described of decomposing sewage and other liquid by electrolysis to produce disinfecting and other products, which consists in subjecting two bodies of one and the saine liquid respectively to the electrolytic action of positive and negative electrodes, repeatedly renewing one of the liquid bodies and retaining and continuing the electrolytic action on the other liquid body, substantially as set foi-thi` flhe method herein described of decomposing seawater by electrolysis to produc-e In this case the tank Ahas nhiorino, which consists in subjecting bodies Ascribing viiinesses, this 2d day of December, oione and the saine sea-water respeobively to A'. D. 1887.

miie cviecmiytio action of positive and ncga- WILLIAM WEBSTER, JUN. tive eieotr'odos, repeatedly renewing a, portion XVitnesses: V

5 of the wtez' and retaining and continuing the CMAS. D. ABEL,

eieotroiycio action on the other pobiou of the Patent Agent. y sea-water, substantial] y in the manner seb JNO. I. M. MILLARD, forth. Clerk to liIessrs. Abel d; Imi-ay, Consulting En- In testimony whereof I lmvesigned my namegineers (E' Patent 'igcnts,28 iS'ouhmnpony Buildio to this speoificatiomin the presence of twosubings, Loudon., TV. C. 

